Applicator for a hair product and method for using

ABSTRACT

This invention includes an applicator for hair having a brush first end and a hair arranging element second end. The intermediate portion between these two ends is used to treat hair with both of the ends without the operator giving up up possession of the instrument. The applicator is used to treat arranged groups of hair sections, section by section, each section being formed by the hair arranging element and that same section being treated by the brush by applying in applying a tinting substance to the formed section. Once the hair section has been treated, it is isolated with waterproof material, and a subsequent section is formed and treated. This continues until all of the hair has been so treated and is ready for tinting.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention

[0002] The present invention relates to an applicator for a hair product such as a hair coloring or tinting substance and a method for utilizing that product and, more particularly, for a multifunctional applicator for a hair product including a brush and a hair arranging element combined in the same instrument.

[0003] 2. Description of the Prior Art

[0004] A current fashion trend involves coloring the hair to create a visual effect, either pronounced or subtle, depending on the preference of the individual wherein the individual may apply hair treating substances including various colors or, alternatively, colors or shades that give the hair a special appearance. Of particular importance is using color to treat areas of the hair, as opposed to locks or substantially all the hair, which are lighter or darker than the rest of the hair thus providing an overall hair style with a very natural appearance.

[0005] Combs and brushes used for styling and grooming the hair are well known. These instruments typically have a linear array of teeth which may be moved through the hair so as to position the hair in a desired manner. Additionally, it is well known to apply various fluids such as hair oil, conditioner, hair coloring, lightener, highlighting, detangling, and the like to the hair to promote its health and improve its appearance. Such fluids are typically applied by being dispensed from a container onto the hair or being manually dispersed through the hair with the hands. Such manual dispersion of the fluids through the hair inherently possesses substantial disadvantages in that it generally requires that the hands have intimate contact with the fluid. This is particularly undesirable since the fluid dispersed may discolor or otherwise have an undesirable effect of the skin or fingernails of the hands.

[0006] Highlighting, tinting or shading the hair is particularly popular today and is normally achieved by first separating the entire head of hair into various groups of hair sections by utilizing the thin spike-like tyne of a styling comb to arrange the hair into these hair sections and, as each hair section is developed, applying a tinting substance to that section to achieve the highlighting effect. The tinting substance is restricted to that particular hair section by the application of a waterproof element such as foil or plastic to isolate and separate the section from all other sections. When all sections have been formed and treated, heat is applied for a predetermined period of time in order that the tinting substance be activated to achieve the tint shade desired.

[0007] Conventional tinting in this fashion is tedious and extended in time because of the need to first utilize an instrument such as the comb tyne to form groups of hair sections and thereafter to utilize a separate instrument, a tinting brush, to apply the tinting substance to the isolated hair section. The operator must continually change the instruments by first utilizing the comb tyne, then laying aside the comb tyne and picking up the tinting brush, and thereafter repeating the process until all hair sections have been formed and treated with the tinting substance. The frequent exchange of instruments for this operation often results in the operator dropping one or the other of such instruments several times during the tinting operation thus disrupting the flow of work during the tinting process. Moreover, the continuous exchange of instruments; i. e., giving up possession of one and reaching for the other during the course of the tinting process takes a considerable period of time and effort by the operator to achieve the overall tinting or shading desired.

[0008] With this conventional process in mind, it is apparent that a means for easily and conveniently effecting the tinting or shading operation is needed and desired. It is to this need and desire that the present invention is directed.

OBJECTIVES AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0009] It is an objective of the present invention to provide a hair product applicator that eliminates a number of the shortcomings relating to the conventional practice of tinting or shading hair.

[0010] Yet another objective of the present invention is to provide an applicator for a hair product having a brush formed on its first end and a hair arranging element formed on its second end, the applicator being utilizable to treat hair with the brush and with the hair arranging element continuously without the operator relinquishing possession.

[0011] Still another objective of the present invention is to provide a method for utilizing the applicator that will allow a single applicator to be used in all steps of the process without the need to exchange treating elements or components while the process is being carried out.

[0012] A further objective of the present invention is to provide an applicator of the type described which has a base portion supporting the bristles of the brush and a gripping element extending from the base for holding the brush when applying the hair treating substance.

[0013] To accomplish these objectives, the present invention includes an applicator for a hair product having first and second ends wherein a brush forms the applicator first end and a hair arranging element forms the second end. An intermediate portion is positioned between the brush and hair arranging element, and the applicator is utilizable to treat hair with the brush and with the hair arranging element continuously without the operator relinquishing possession. The applicator is usable to treat arranged groups of hair sections, section by section, each section being formed by the hair arranging element and that same section being treated by the brush in applying a tinting substance to the formed section. Once the hair section has been completed and treated, it is isolated with waterproof material, and a subsequent section is formed and treated. This continues until all of the hair has been so treated and is ready for tinting.

[0014] Thus there has been outlined the more important features of the invention in order that the detailed description that follows may be better understood and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are, of course, additional features of the invention that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto. In that respect, before explaining at least one embodiment of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its arrangement of the components set forth in the following description and illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways.

[0015] It is also to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting in any respect. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the concept upon which this disclosure is based may readily be utilized as a basis for designing other structures, methods and systems for carrying out the several purposes of this development. It is important that the claims be regarded as including such equivalent methods and products resulting therefrom that do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention. The application is neither intended to define the invention, which is measured by its claims, nor to limit its scope in any way.

[0016] Thus, the objects of the invention set forth above, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the invention, are noted with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure. For a better understanding of the invention, its operating advantages and the specific results obtained by its use, reference should be made to the following detailed specification taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein like characters of reference designate like parts throughout the several views.

[0017] The drawings are included to provide a further understanding of the invention and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification. They illustrate embodiments of the invention and, together with their description, serve to explain the principles of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0018]FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of the first embodiment of the present invention wherein the applicator brush is evenly formed along the base portion;

[0019]FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of another embodiment of the present invention wherein the brush bristles are of varying length to provide an inclined application surface;

[0020]FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of yet another embodiment of the present invention smaller in size than those previously described and more effectively usable in certain hair locations of the head;

[0021]FIG. 4 is a side elevational view of yet another embodiment of the present invention wherein the hair arranging element is formed of stainless steel, and the brush includes a base and a gripping member conveniently positioned nearby;

[0022]FIG. 5 is a plan view of the applicator shown in FIG. 1;

[0023]FIG. 6 is an end elevational view of the applicator shown FIGS. 1 and 5;

[0024]FIG. 7 is a block diagram of the method of utilizing the applicator for treating the hair; and

[0025]FIG. 8 is a side elevational view of yet another embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0026] Referring now to the drawings and particularly to FIG. 1, an applicator for a hair product shown generally as 10 has a first end 12 and a second end 14, first end 12 forming a brush 16 and second end 14 forming a hair arranging element 18 small in cross section and extended in length to be used as will be described subsequently.

[0027] Brush 16 is mounted a base 20 which extends to a gripping member 22 for holding applicator 10 during the hair treating operation. Intermediate portion 24 connects brush 16 with hair arranging element 14 at a location substantially midway between the two components. The shape of brush 16 can be varied such as being substantially parallel to base 20 in FIG. 1 and inclining with respect thereto in FIG. 2 as shown. It can be short and stubby or somewhat elongated depending on the nature and need of the hair being treated.

[0028] Hair arranging element 14 can be formed of plastic or any other material sufficiently strong to accomplish the hair treatment required. Stainless steel has been found to be particularly useful and efficient for this member.

[0029] Sizes of applicator 10 can be varied anywhere within a range of from seven (7) to twelve (12) inches, the longer applicators better suited to produce an even hairline between each hair section when groups of hair sections are formed and shorter lengths for particular areas of the head where the hair is irregular or difficult to form and treat.

[0030] The method of utilizing applicator lo of the present invention includes using hair arranging element 14 to form the hair into groups of hair sections. As each hair section is formed, applicator lo is moved by the operator to enable the application of a hair treatment substance to the formed hair section with brush 16 without the operator relinquishing possession of applicator 10 to make this change. Applicator 10 is simply moved so that hair arranging element 14 is disengaged from the hair and brush 16 is readied for applying the tinting substance to the hair. This movement is merely a reversing by the operator of the applicator ends, 12, 14, to disengage the hair from hair engaging element 14 to reengage the hair with brush 16. Obviously operating in this manner saves a considerable amount of time since the operator does not have to deposit applicator 10 on a shelf or table and pick up another different applicator to do the next step of the process.

[0031] When hair treatment is commenced, the hair is usually combed out smoothly by the operator and then formed into a plurality of substantially vertical rows with each row being treated separately. When a row is formed and selected by the operator for treatment, he or she begins at the uppermost portion of the head and hair and selects a discreet quantity of hair strands by inserting hair arranging element 14 within that segment of hair strands usually interweaving it within the section of hair strands to separate the thickness of the hair strands into tintable discreet quantities. The upper portion of the separated hair strands is lifted to allow the positioning of a sheet of waterproof material such as foil or plastic. The separated hair strands rest directly on this material, and the operator applies a tinting substance with brush 16 to visible expose the hair to the tinting substance thereby applying a sufficient quantity to ensure appropriate shading or tinting. This separated section of treated hair strands is then folded within the waterproof sheet and pinned in place until the process has been completed to finish the vertical row. When all vertical rows have been treated in a like manner, a hair dryer is used to activate the tinting substance and finalize the tinting procedure.

[0032] Although several embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that the details of construction of these particular embodiments may be modified without departing from the concept presented. It is, therefore, intended that the invention be limited only by the scope of the appended claims rather than by particular details of the construction shown. 

What is claimed is:
 1. An applicator for a hair product having first and second ends comprising: a brush forming the applicator first end, a hair arranging element forming the second end, and an intermediate portion positioned between the brush and the hair arranging element, the applicator being utilizable to treat hair with the brush and with the hair arranging element continuously without relinquishing possession.
 2. The applicator as claimed in claim 1 wherein the hair arranging element is usable to arrange the hair into groups of hair sections for subsequent treatment of a single section at a time.
 3. The applicator as claimed in claim 1 wherein the brush is usable to treat the arranged hair groups a single section at a time.
 4. The applicator as claimed in claim 2 wherein the brush is usable to treat the arranged hair groups a single section at a time.
 5. The applicator as claimed in claim 1 wherein the intermediate portion is substantially smaller in cross section than the brush.
 6. The method of utilizing an applicator for a hair product having a brush at the first end, a hair arranging element at the second and an intermediate portion positioned between the brush and the hair arranging element comprising the steps of: utilizing the hair arranging element to arrange the hair into groups of hair sections; moving the applicator without relinquishing possession and utilizing the brush to apply a hair treatment substance to a single group of hair sections one section at a time; and continuing to move the applicator to selective utilize the hair arranging element and brush to arrange subsequent groups of hair sections and to apply a hair treatment substance to each group of hair sections one section at a time, the hair arranging element and the brush being continuously moved and utilized without the operator relinquishing possession.
 7. The method as claimed in claim 6 wherein each treated hair section is separated from all other sections.
 8. The method as claimed in claim 7 wherein the hair sections are separated and isolated by waterproof material.
 9. The method as claimed in claim 6 wherein the groups of hair sections are formed into substantially vertical rows.
 10. The applicator as claimed in claim 1 wherein the length of the applicator is within the range of from 7 to 12 inches.
 11. The applicator as claimed in claim 1 wherein the brush has a base portion, a plurality of bristles carried by the base, and a gripping element extending from the base for holding the brush when applying a hair treating substance.
 12. The applicator as claimed in claim 2 wherein the brush has a base portion, a plurality of bristles carried by the base, and a gripping element extending from the base for holding the brush when applying a hair treating substance.
 13. The applicator as claimed in claim 4 wherein the brush has a base portion, a plurality of bristles carried by the base, and a gripping element extending from the base for holding the brush when applying a hair treating substance.
 14. The applicator as claimed in claim 5 wherein the brush has a base portion, a plurality of bristles carried by the base, and a gripping element extending from the base for holding the brush when applying a hair treating substance.
 15. The applicator as claimed in claim 14 wherein the length of the applicator is within the range of from 7 to 12 inches and the cross section of the intermediate portion is substantially smaller than the cross section of the brush. 